


Earthshine

by ohpleaselarry



Category: Gay baby gang, The Misfits (Podcast), gbg
Genre: Angst, Denial, Fluff, Love Triangle, M/M, Sex eventually, Twilight Universe, cam is edward, fuckin hell wish me luck, ill add additional tags to each chapter as needed, thisll be a long one boys, toby is bella, vampire!Cam, werewolf!Bordie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 03:52:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19076941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohpleaselarry/pseuds/ohpleaselarry
Summary: Same story as Twilight..but gay, more sex, scuffed, and with a little dash of weed. Cam’s a vampire. Toby’s a clumsy human. They fall in love.





	Earthshine

**Author's Note:**

> Note: 
> 
> This long ass note is mostly for clarity. Not really needed to read, but If you’re confused about who someone is meant to be in the fic or just confused about something, come back and read this. 
> 
> Okay, think of it as like a scuffed present time rated R twilight sort of. It follows the same basic storyline, but I kept out random shit I didn’t care to write in (Victoria for example), and I added my own stuff to make it more fic-like. if you want a wager, just think of the events leading up to the end of breaking dawn part 1. Just shorter, gayer, and no baby of course. Also, the other ‘siblings’ of the Misfit (Cullen) family aren’t together together, as they are in the original book.  
> There will be four chapters, one for each book, and I’m only doing it like that for two reasons: 1) to help my brain keep track of the events timeline and 2) because I write fics in the notes app on my phone so if I write all four chapters in one go it’ll freeze up when I go to copy and paste into ao3. 
> 
> Cast to compare to twilight (if anyone’s read twilight this may be helpful for you when reading) the siblings aren’t together, such as: Jay and Matt aren’t together, though they are meant to be alice and jasper. This list is only a key guide to the talents/character everyone is supposed to represent. Half of the characters from the original books aren’t even in this fic. Anyway:  
> Bella: Toby  
> Edward: Cameron  
> Jacob: Bordie (bc their irl play flirting is too much to have jacob be anyone else 😉) also a NOTE about this: I thought about making Bordie just a private school girl but having the quileute legends explained by Jacob was a big factor in Bella figuring out Edwards a vampire so let’s just ignore the fact that Bordie isn’t Native American irl lol  
> Alice: Jay  
> Jasper: Matt  
> Emmett: Swagger  
> Rosalie: Mason (the “hating” Toby thing is in the fic as well but for different reasons. You’ll see.)  
> Carlisle: Ryan (dad age obviously)  
> Billy Black: Bonnie Black (the girl version of billy just for aesthetic purposes and she’s not a major enough character to assign an irl person to lol rip)  
> Charlie: Bee (mom instead of dad due to toby being male. Thought about putting Bianca into the story since that’s her real name but it feels weird to call her that so it’s just Bee. Just for aesthetic mostly. On that note, Toby’s inner monologue calls her Bee just as Bella in the OG story called her dad Charlie everywhere except when talking right to him. Felt weird to type “mom” so I’m going to stick with just Bee.)  
> This is only for talent key guide. None of them are really like the original characters. For example, Matt isn’t an uncomfortable stiff newborn as Jasper was at first, he’s just quiet. and Swagger isn’t really a hotheaded jock as Emmett is made out to be.  
> Jessica, Mike, Angela, Eric, Tyler etc..: all same characters just because I don’t feel like making OC’s for all of them when their roles aren’t that major in this. 
> 
> Vampires last names are ‘Misfit’ instead of Cullen. I didn’t want to use main character surnames from the original books, and using any of the boys’ irl surnames for the whole family felt weird, so I went with Misfit because it was the only obvious choice. It felt strange writing it as a last name, so I’m sure it’ll feel strange reading it, but it’s not as weird once you get used to it. Besides, that’d be a hella cool last name to have anyway 🤷🏻♀️  
> Setting is still in Forks, WA because I can’t exactly have vampires set in Melbourne due to the whole sparkling in the sun thing lmao. Besides, what’s a fic set in the Twilight universe without moody rain?  
> Enjoy. I worked way too hard on this for no reason haha I’m tired.  
> Disclaimer: I tried to Americanise this as much as I can, because of the setting and all, but I’m sure I missed plenty of shit that’s inaccurate. I don’t have a beta to double check, so just try to ignore any mistakes. UNEDITED until I finish the entire series. Oops lol Thanks 😂

🔅

Toby hates the rain.  
Forehead against the cool glass of his Mom’s patrol car window, he watches the water just pour outside, the dark clouds over them moving quicker than Toby ever saw back in Arizona. He almost forgot what a storm looks like. It’s been quite a few years since he visited Washington. He stopped coming for the summer after 6th grade. It’s nearly the end of his Junior year, now.  
“So um...you dyed your hair again?” Bee asks, never having been a great small-talker. She passed plenty of things onto Toby, apparently.  
He sighs, running his fingers through said hair, shaking his head.  
“This is my natural colour, actually.” He says, laughing a bit. Bee just nods awkwardly, clutching the wheel tightly and continuing to drive.  
Toby looks back out at the weather, fingernail tapping at the small pot that’s home to the succulent in his hands, and wonders what he’s getting himself into. 

 

“Uh, I’ll leave ya to unpack.” Bee says not even thirty seconds after showing him to his room, leaving to probably go watch her Netflix shows and have a beer.  
Toby sets his plant down on his desk. His room looks mostly the same, with an additional work desk and dark blue duvet on the bed. Other than that, it’s the same bookshelf of baby photos and books, the same drapes surrounding the window, the same bedside table with stickers that Toby stuck to it when he was seven.  
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Toby pulls out his phone to see if his Dad messaged. He finds nothing, as expected. The Man’s probably busy with his wife Phoebe’s softball tour and all.  
Lying back, Toby shuts his eyes, and dreads having school tomorrow so soon after relocating.  
He doesn’t realise he’s falling asleep until it’s too late. 

 

Toby’s woken by a vehicle horn, followed by a door shutting and the sound of laughter.  
Sitting up, he pulls on a hoodie, arm hair standing up from the cool air in his room.  
Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Toby steps over to his window and finds Bee talking to some people outside next to an old dark red truck.  
Toby considers just staying inside, but Bee spots him and waves him down. 

Opening the front door, Toby is glad to see the rain has let up. It seems to be mad early, and he didn’t set an alarm since he didn’t mean to fall asleep, so he’s almost glad he got woken up.  
“Toby, you remember Bordie and her mom, Bonnie?” Bee asks, hand on Bonnie’s shoulder where she’s sat in her wheelchair.  
“Of course.” Toby says, smiling. Bordie looks a lot older than Toby remembers, hair down to her mid back and what looks like a bit of mascara on her eyelashes. If his maths is correct, she should be 15 now. They’ve both hit puberty since the last time they saw each other.  
Their moms start to talk a bit about whatever, and Bordie steps up to him, looking a bit timid but smiling.  
“Hey. We used to play dress up, remember? Then climb trees wearing veils and heels.” Bordie grins at the memory. Toby smiles back, hands in his pockets a bit awkwardly.  
“Yeah I remember. Mom got pissed cause I fell and nearly broke my arm. I was more upset that I broke the heel on your slippers.” Toby remembers. They fall back into it fairly easily. Though they never kept in touch when Toby would go back to Arizona for the school year, the summers that he came back they caught up and continued right where they left off.  
Though they haven’t seen each other since the summer before 7th grade, its not really awkward at all.  
“So, how do you like it?” Bee asks, stepping up to them with a smile. Toby loves when Bonnie comes around. Their friendship always brings the goofier, more social side out of Bee.  
“Like what?”  
“Your homecoming present.” Bee says, tapping the side of the truck bed.  
“What? Oh my god, no way!” Toby’s never drastically needed nor even had the money for his own car, so he’s automatically excited.  
“You like it?” Bee asks, smiling proudly.  
Toby steps over and gives her a half hug.  
“I love it, it’s perfect. Thank you so much.”  
“Well, try it out.”  
So he does. Opening the door, it’s nice and clean inside. Bordie jogs around to the passenger side and gets in, showing him the gear shift and the clutch and everything. The truck roars to life, and they grin at each other.  
“You want a ride to school?” Toby asks, high off the excitement.  
“Oh, I go to school on my reservation.” Bordie says, smiling apologetically. Toby’s never gone to school here, so he just kind of forgot.  
“Oh right, I forgot. Just would’ve been nice to know one person, is all.” The nervous bubbling in his stomach returns, knowing he’ll be figuring a new school out on his own without someone he knows he can sit with at lunch.  
He just smiles, pretending he’s not anxious as hell. 

 

It’s January, basically the middle of the school year. It’s sort of the worst time to join a new school.  
Everyone seems to be staring as Toby walks through the halls, eyes on his map to figure out where the fuck he’s even supposed to go.  
He can feel his cheeks reddening, knowing how many eyes are on him. God, he feels like he’s in a movie or something. Surely these people have seen a new student before?  
“You’re Toby Lyons, right? I’m Eric, the eyes and ears in this school. You need anything, let me know.” A tall chess-club type of guy holding what looks like a rolled up school newspaper grins and walks with him.  
“Um...okay, thank you. Actually, I’m trying to find the gymnasium.” Toby says, and Eric just takes his schedule and nods, scanning down the list.  
“Easy enough. I’ll show you. You can sit with us at lunch, if you’d like. I know that first day feeling when you don’t know where to sit. Oh, and after lunch we both have biology, so I can show you there as well.” Though he’s overly helpful, Toby’s less nervous now, knowing he has someone friendly to look for in the lunch room.  
They arrive at the gym, and Toby thanks Eric, stepping into the large room.  
To his horror, Toby is face to face to volleyball nets. Fantastic. 

 

Toby stays as far from the ball as possible. The other players seem to understand. They keep the ball away from him as well.  
It only takes one wrongly angled spike to send it hurling for him. Toby’s reflexes have him smacking the ball away from himself without meaning to. Of course, the ball flies right into the back of some dudes head.  
Toby rushes over, where the guy’s picking up the ball.  
“I’m so sorry, I told them I’m trash at this.”  
The guy gives him an obvious once over and just smiles, eyes wide. He’s the cute baby faced type of boy, with pale blond hair and light eyes.  
“Oh...it’s okay. You’re Toby, right?”  
Toby knew word would get around fast with how small of a town this is, but it doesn’t stop the tiny bit of annoyance at the fact that literally everyone already knows him.  
Before Toby can answer, someone steps up next to them. A petite girl with brown curly hair smiles at them.  
“Hey! I’m Jessica, this is Mike. You’re Toby Lyons?”  
“That’s me.” Toby says, sighing internally.  
“Awesome, Eric told us you’re sitting with us at lunch?” She asks, eyes boring into his. Toby’s getting major snobby preppy girl vibes from her, but he hates to judge before really knowing someone.  
The coach blows the whistle and tells them to get back to the game before Toby can reply, though he didn’t really know what to say anyway.  
Heading back to the team, Toby hands the ball back to the server with a sheepish grin, then glances at the clock, ready for this class to be over. 

 

Toby mostly just picks at his food, too overwhelmed with everything to really feel like eating. He nibbles on a carrot and listens to Eric and their other friend, Angela, discuss the next story for their school paper. So far, Angela’s Toby’s favourite. She hasn’t said much to him, but she seems much more his kind of friend. Calm, kind, and a bit shy.  
Jessica, on the other hand, is chewing his ear off, telling Toby about every clique she can.  
Toby sips at his water and let’s his eyes trace over the room as Jessica tells him about the football players.  
His eyes catch on a table on the far side of the room that seems to be secluded from everyone else.  
There sits four people who are laughing with each other and just being regular friends. What catches Toby’s eyes, is the strange beauty they all possess. Their skin seems to be smooth, pale as snow, and they just seem to be like...graceful in a way, even when they’re just throwing carrot sticks at each other playfully.  
“Who’re they?” Toby asks, eyes not straying for even a second. Jessica twists around and spots who he’s looking at, and her eyebrows raise like she’s got all the gossip.  
“Oh my god. Those are the Misfit’s. Okay, the one all the way to the left is Swagger. He’s a bit short but he’s got muscles to die for. Um, next to him is Matt, who I’ve never really heard speak to anyone else but their group, then the other two are Jay and Mason, who are always goofing around with each other. Those two are a year younger than us I think but they’re in the same grade as us anyway. Their dad’s the doctor at the hospital and they’re some sort of foster family. He adopted all of them and is just a single dad. I don’t know why he adopted a bunch of teenagers but they’re really like...weird. They don’t really talk to any of us and nobody even knows where in town they live. Apparently they moved here from Alaska or something.” Toby doesn’t know how Jessica breathes between her sentences, to be honest. He nods along and glances back at the table, finding a fifth boy stepping up to the table, shaking a hand through the Mason boy’s hair and sitting down with a pretty grin. He’s tall as hell and devastatingly hot, wearing black jeans and a matching coat, along with dirty blond hair that looks too perfectly messy to be naturally like that. He had to have styled it.  
“W-who’s he?” Toby asks, watching the new addition to their table smile at the rest of them and ask them something. Toby’s too far away to hear anything, but he wishes he could.  
Jessica glances back and sighs, setting her chin on her palm.  
“Cameron Misfit. The rest of the Misfit’s just call him Cam but he hasn’t asked anyone else to. Hot as fuck but not interested in anyone here, apparently.” Jessica sounds almost annoyed. Toby can only imagine her trying to get with the guy, or anyone at that table. All of them are out of literally everyone here’s league. Way out. Like, space interstellar, way out.  
Almost as if he could hear them talking about him, the Cameron boy looks up, and their eyes meet across the lunchroom.  
Even with the distance, Toby can see the furrow of his eyebrow and the slight downturn of his lips as soon as they look at each other. Like the guy is confused. Or maybe angry.  
He doesn’t look away, but Toby isn’t really one for stare downs. He looks back at his food, cheeks pinking after being caught staring. He’s sure they’re used to being stared at with their beauty, but it still feels rude.  
After about fifteen seconds, he glances back up, and finds the guy still looking at him, eyes piercing. Expression kind of intense.  
Toby decides to send him a smile, to be friendly, hoping the guy didn’t take his staring to be in a rude way.  
Cameron just raises an eyebrow, looking less angry but a lot more confused. This time, he’s the one who looks away, to his brothers, and says something.  
Everyone at his table except for Cameron and the boy Jay look over at Toby, making it obvious that he just said something about him.  
Toby looks away quickly, embarrassed, wondering what he said.  
He doesn’t get to ponder on it for long, due to the end of lunch bell ringing through the cafeteria. 

Eric and Mike both have biology with him after lunch, so they walk together to the class.  
“Ah, you must be Mr. Lyons. I’ve got your textbook here and we’ve got one empty seat for ya.” The teacher hands Toby a heavy biology textbook and points over at the empty seat. They’re two people tables with stools, and of course the only empty seat is next to him. The guy. Cameron.  
Their eyes meet once again. Toby steps in front of a fan to make his way over. As soon as the fan blows through his hair, Toby watches the guy grip his desk and frown deeply, then bring a hand up to his nose.  
Toby looks away, down at the floor to watch his step as he approaches the seat. He’s always been clumsy, so it’s just second nature to watch the floor, even on a flat classroom walkway.  
Sliding into the seat, Toby watches the boy move a few inches away, hand steadily over his nose. Toby stares straight ahead as class starts and remembers a minute earlier when their eyes met. With the closer distance, Toby could now see how the boy’s eyes are just black. He thought they were brown in the lunchroom, but they’re undoubtedly black.  
Cameron smells nice. Like cedar trees and fresh rain. Toby subtly bends his neck, lifting the hem of his shirt to see if he himself smells, wondering if that’s why the boy is trying to be as far away as possible. He seems to smell alright, just a hint of the sorta nice cologne his dad bought him before he moved.  
Toby can almost feel Cameron’s eyes on him. He doesn’t look over to confirm, heart rate slightly elevated with the tension. There’s no way this dude is that offended that Toby was staring. It’s something else.  
Glancing down at his own outfit, Toby finds his nice jeans, one of his favourite shirts, a basic brown jacket, and his white vans. It’s not a flamboyant outfit, but Toby’s never seen in public without looking stylish. Suddenly, Toby wonders if perhaps Cameron is clearly hating him for a different reason.  
Though he’s never put any labels on himself, nearly everyone Toby meets just assumes he’s gay. He doesn’t really correct them unless they ask, not really giving a fuck. He loves girls and boys just the same. When he imagines his future, he can imagine marrying a girl and having kids just as easily as he can imagine marrying a boy and adopting. With a small town like this, Toby expects homophobes. In fact, he’s dealt with them before with idiots in his previous school in Phoenix.  
Jaw clenching, Toby feels himself relax. He can live with that. Homophobia is frankly just not something he cares to fight with. He hates to cause scenes. Fights. Bullying. It’s better to just ignore it. He’s only got a few more months then one more year of high school. If Cameron thinks he’s gay and is offended by that, that’s his problem.  
Toby didn’t realise how much time had passed until Cameron suddenly shot up from his seat, all of his stuff in his hands. About a half second later, the bell rings.  
Toby watches the tall boy stalk out of the classroom before anyone has even registered that the bell has rung, and hopes his theory isn’t true. 

 

After his last class, Toby decides to stop in the office on the way to his truck to see if he can take something other than biology. He doesn’t even need it, seeing as he’s already done biology, he was just filling up class slots. Besides, he doesn’t want to spend the next nearly five months next to someone who clearly can’t stand to be next to him.  
Opening the door to the office, Toby’s greeted by a familiar figure, who doesn’t turn around, but his shoulders stiffen and his hand tightens on the office counter like he just knows who’s behind him.  
“I’m sorry, Cameron, but every other class is full. I’m afraid you’ll have to stay in biology.” The front desk lady says. Toby’s stomach flips, and his mouth drops open a bit without his permission. Well, damn.  
“It’s fine. I’ll just...have to endure it.” Cameron says, then angrily leaves the room, not even glancing at him. It’s the first time Toby’s heard his voice. Deep, and unexpectedly almost radio-host like. It’s a nice voice.  
Toby chews on his lip, almost hurt that the guy wanted to switch because of him, though he has to remind himself that that’s the exact reason he came to the office as well.  
Eventually, Toby leaves the office, and makes his way to the parking lot, where he spots Cameron stepping into a nice black Volvo S60, and speeding out of the park seconds later. Toby leans against his truck door and exhales shakily, not looking forward to dealing with this for the rest of the school year. 

 

Toby plans to confront him, ask him what his problem is, see if it’s actually homophobia, maybe fix it and make the next few months bearable, but the guy doesn’t show up.  
For an entire week.  
His adopted brothers still sit at their table, talking amongst themselves normally. None of Toby’s new friends at his own table know where he’s gone. Toby definitely doesn’t plan on asking any of his brothers.  
So he just focuses on school, getting back into the rhythm of homework and studying. 

 

When he does finally come back to school, Toby didn’t think he was, due to him not being at lunch. But alas, when he steps into biology, he spots blond messy hair and a slightly hunched back over the table as the boy writes something in a notebook.  
Toby hangs up his coat on the hook at the front of the room and makes his way to his seat. When he sits, he opens his book and takes out his homework to turn in, hands just slightly shaky with nervousness. It’s been a week, and Toby wants to turn and ask why he’s been a douche, but he doesn’t want to do it here and make a scene.  
“Hi, I don’t think I formally introduced myself last week. I’m Cameron Misfit, but you can call me Cam if you’d like. You’re Toby?”  
Toby almost embarrassingly jumps in surprise. He looks up, and finds the dude looking right at him, smiling a friendly smile. Toby’s busy remembering how Jessica said he’s never asked anyone to call him Cam but his brothers, but he’s quickly distracted by the fact that he’s met with bright blue eyes with a hint of gold in the centres.  
Toby just blinks, forgetting to say something. He remembers just a week before. Cameron’s eyes were so black Toby almost wondered if he was wearing contacts. He must’ve been, right? His eyes are so blue now. There’s no way Toby would mistake that.  
“Okay class, today we’re doing partner work. Your partner is the one sat next to you. First group finished wins, wait for it, the golden onion!” The class does a half assed cheer at the prize.  
As the teacher hands out microscopes and worksheets, Toby’s busy trying to think of what to say.  
“So you liking the rain?” Cameron, or Cam he supposes, asks, thankfully breaking the small silence.  
Toby looks up, out the window next to them at the pouring cold rain and feels his nose scrunch up. He shakes his head.  
“Nah. Not a fan. I’m more of a sunny beach kinda gal.” Toby says, biting the inside of his lip when Cam chuckles. It’s a very nice sound. Everything this guy does is attractive, it’s insane.  
The teacher hands them their stuff, and Cam writes their names in far too neat almost cursive handwriting while Toby sets up the microscope slides. It’s a simple identifying worksheet, so they finish the first three out of ten within a minute, double checking each other’s answers.  
“So...why’d you move here of all places? We get more rain than anywhere else in the US.” Cam asks as they continue the work.  
Toby shrugs, heart aching as he thinks about his dad. He misses him. Misses Arizona. The heat. The dinners out with him and Phoebe.  
“My dad remarried, so I came to live with my mom for a while.”  
“You don’t like the woman?”  
“What? No, Phoebe’s cool. A bit young for him, but nice enough,” Toby peeks into the microscope, “interphase.”  
Cam’s eyebrows just furrow like he’s confused, and he writes the answer to the last slide. 

 

Toby holds the golden onion in his hands as he walks with Cam towards his locker.  
“So, if you like your stepmom, why move here if you hate the weather?” He seems genuinely interested despite his clear distaste the week before. Maybe he had a change of heart? Though Jessica did say the Misfits don’t make friends with anyone else. Why’s he different? Toby adjusts his rucksack strap on his shoulder and sighs.  
“Well, Phoebe’s a minor league softball player, so she travels a lot, and so dad had to stay home with me, but it made him unhappy to be away from Phoebe, so I came to live with my mom.”  
“But now you’re unhappy.” Cam guesses as they stop at Toby’s locker. He pulls it open and sets the onion inside, eyebrows furrowing.  
“No...I just...” Toby can’t think of anything. Cam watches him closely.  
“Sorry, I’m just trying to figure you out. You’re very hard to read.” He says.  
Their eyes meet.  
“Hey, did you get contacts?”  
“No...”  
“Your eyes were, like, black before. Now they’re blue.”  
“It’s the um..the fluorescents..” Cam looks away and shakes his head, and abruptly walks away.  
Toby stands against his locker, bewildered.  
But mainly, intrigued. 

 

The rain has finally stopped, but the combination of that and the freezing temperatures has left black ice behind. The principal warned the students of the ice and reminded them to drive with caution as they leave the school.  
Toby arrives at his truck and sets his book down on his hood, and the golden onion on top of it. Leaning against his truck, Toby skips through songs on his phone until he finds one he likes, planning on waiting until most of the traffic’s out of the way before Toby attempts to drive on an icy road for the first time.  
Without his permission, Toby eyes flit up from his phone to where Cam always parks. He finds the boy standing with his brother Mason next to his Volvo. Mason’s saying something, but Cam’s looking right back at him.  
Toby, feeling like they’re acquainted enough now, sends him a friendly smile.  
Cam just looks back at his brother and says something that looks almost angry. They must be arguing.  
Toby hears the unmistakable sound of screeching tires and looks up from his phone, finds a Van skidding across the concrete headed right for him.  
Toby, unable to react fast enough, can only squeeze his eyes shut and gasp before he feels the back of his head hit something and he hears the crunching of metal.  
Opening his eyes, Toby finds he hasn’t been crushed. His head pounds in pain, and his delayed brain realises seconds later that he’s being held around the waist.  
Looking up, it’s Cameron. The boy’s hand slowly falls from the passenger door of the van, where there’s now a large dent.  
Did he...stop the van? With his hand? Looking at the boy’s hand, Toby doesn’t spot any blood. Scratches. Anything.  
Looking up, they’re barely a foot away, eyes staring into each other’s. Cam looks almost as surprised as he is.  
The boy releases his waist, so Toby’s just sitting against his truck in the space between it and the van. He the leaps up and jumps up into Toby’s truck bed and out the backside.  
Seconds later, everyone else starts to react. People scream his name, and Tyler, with blood dripping down his forehead, rushes out of the drivers seat to check on him.  
Toby just sits there, in shock, unable to answer any questions as he remembers just seconds before the accident, seeing Cam with Mason far across on the other side of the entire parking lot.  
But that’s impossible..

 

In the hospital, Bee is pissed, in full uniform, threatening to take Tyler’s license away while Toby desperately tries to tell her it’s not his fault and that he’s fine.  
“Afternoon, Chief Lyons. Looks like someone took a bit of a spill?” The doctor steps in and smiles a winning smile, “hello Toby, I’m Dr. Misfit. Looks like you didn’t hit your head hard enough to cause much more than a killer headache. You’ll be just fine.”  
Toby suddenly realises that this is the guy who adopted all of the Misfit boys. He looks like he could maybe be around Bee’s age, but he’s just as beautiful as the rest of the family, skin pale and smooth of wrinkles and blemishes, every movement graceful and perfect.  
“Yeah, I would’ve probably been crushed if it weren’t for Cameron. He got to me so fast and he wasn’t anywhere near me.” Toby says, still shocked from the whole situation. His brain keeps coming up with excuses, but though it’s impossible, Toby knows his memory isn’t failing him.  
“Cameron, that’s your boy, Ryan?” Bee asks the doctor, who nods thoughtfully.  
“Sounds like you were very lucky.” He says, then smiles and turns to Bee with a bit of paperwork. 

 

Stepping out into the lobby, Bee looks sheepish, a bit apologetic.  
“Um...you might want to call your dad. He’s freaking out a bit.” She says, and Toby groans, stepping away and over towards some vending machines, pulling his phone from his pocket.  
He’s about to call when he spots Cam, Mason, and Dr. Misfit all standing down the hall.  
“—don’t see how you could be such a fucking idiot?!“  
“We should have this conversation at home.” Ryan interrupts Mason’s angry words, eyes on Toby. All three of them look over.  
“Um, can I talk to you?” Toby asks, looking at Cam. Said boy sighs and steps away from his family and up to him, leaning against the wall. He’s unfairly hot it’s getting a bit annoying.  
“What do you want?” Cam asks, his friendly tone from back in biology just gone now. Toby wonders what he’s done this time.  
“I just...want to know how you got to me so fast, and fucking stopped the van with your hand like it weighed nothing?” Toby keeps his voice low, searching Cam’s eyes for answers.  
“You hit your head, Toby. I was standing right next to you, remember?” Cam says, raising an eyebrow.  
Toby shakes his head.  
“No, you were across the lot, next to your car. I know what I saw.”  
Cam’s jaw is set, angry.  
“Well nobody’s going to believe you.” He says bitterly. Toby crosses his arms and shakes his head.  
“I wasn’t going to tell anyone.” He murmurs. Cam narrows his eyes, confused, but shakes it off and looks away.  
“You aren’t going to drop this are you?”  
“Not until I get a real explanation.”  
Cam scoffs and waves him off, turning and walking back down the hall. When he’s disappeared through the doors at the end of the hallway, Toby leans against the wall and shuts his eyes, remembering the way Cam was looking at him when the crash happened. How close he was. 

 

 

That night, Toby dreams he’s standing in the hospital hallway. Cam appears from around the corner and presses him up against the wall. The sexual tension is nearly unbearable. Cam leans in, eyes as black as nothingness. The moment their lips brush, Cam lifts his hands to Toby’s neck and begins to choke him to death with a sinister grin.  
Toby wakes in a sweat, coughing as if he’s actually been choked. A silent scream catches in his throat when he lifts his head to see Cameron sat in the chair next to the window.  
Toby, wide eyed, looks away for only half a second to yank on his lamp. When he looks back, the chair is empty. He must’ve been hallucinating. Dreaming.  
Pulling his knees to his chest, Toby attempts to calm his breathing, and his fingertips touch to his lips, remembering the way it felt for their lips to brush as if it really happened.  
It’s the first night Toby dreams of Cameron Misfit. 

 

Toby stands in the exact spot of the accident, staring at the skid marks on the concrete. He remembers seeing Cam across the lot, then barely a foot away, his eyes bluer than the sky, skin clear and pale as snow. He remembers his dream, and at that exact moment, spots the boy, arriving for the field trip with Jay and Matt.  
Their eyes meet once again. They both look away at the same time.  
Toby barely notices Mike jogging up to him until he’s right in front of him.  
“Hey! You’re alive!” He says with a boyish smile. Toby smiles back, giving him a small laugh.  
“Yeah, I guess so.”  
“Actually, I’m glad you’re alive cause I wanted to ask, um, even though it’s like a month away...”  
Toby doesn’t mean to stop listening, but Cam’s suddenly looked up at them, as if he can hear what they’re saying, even though he’s clear over near the buses.  
“—so what do you think?”  
Toby zones back in, looking back to Mike.  
“About what?”  
“Prom. With me. We can just go as friends if you aren’t...into that.” Mike stutters his way through. Toby’s eyes widen and he immediately thinks of an excuse.  
“Oh, um. I’m actually gonna be in Jacksonville that weekend. Uh..nonrefundable ticket. You should ask Jessica, I know she wants you to.” Toby makes himself shut up. Jessica’s standing by the buses, watching them closely and failing to hide her jealous expression.  
While Mike is looking at said girl, Toby glances back at Cam, who’s not looking at them anymore, but he’s got this smirk going on that makes Toby a bit annoyed. It’s as if he can hear the bullshit pouring out of Toby’s mouth. 

 

As their class walks through a greenhouse, Toby spots Cameron alone, walking through the plants. He steps up beside him.  
“Hello, Cam.”  
The boy just nods without looking at him. Toby feels it’s a bit rude. His mood swings make no sense, they’re random. Toby’s not doing anything differently so he doesn’t know what’s causing Cam to randomly hate him again.  
“Okay then.” Toby sighs and starts to walk faster ahead of the boy.  
“What’s in Jacksonville?” Cam asks before Toby can walk away.  
“How did you know about that?” Toby asks, turning around with an accusatory look.  
Cam narrows his eyes, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets.  
“You didn’t answer my question.” He replies, staring at the plants surrounding them as if they’re the most interesting things in the world.  
Toby, more annoyed than anything at this point, steps right up to him, just half a foot away.  
“Well you never answer any of mine. You don’t even bother to say hello.”  
Cam’s jaw clenches and he stares down at him.  
“Hello.” Cam mutters, then the fucker just smirks and raises a challenging eyebrow.  
Toby decides to experiment a little to bring him down a peg. He tilts his head so the shitty lights above them shine on him at the right angle, then he does the classic slow blink.  
Though subtle, Toby watches Cam’s jaw fall a bit, his eyes flit down to Toby’s lips then back up.  
Interesting.  
“Floridians. That’s what’s in Jacksonville.” Toby smirks and backs up, the tension between them immensely obvious. He can basically feel Cam’s eyes burning holes in him as he walks away. 

 

“Toby, we shouldn’t be friends.” Cam says, walking next to him back to the buses.  
“I don’t get it. Why didn’t you just let the van crush me and save yourself all this...regret?” Toby frowns, a bit stung by Cam’s words.  
“You think I regret saving you?” Cam stops in his tracks, a few feet from the buses. Toby stops as well, pouting a bit.  
“You clearly do.”  
“You don’t know shit about me.” Cam says almost angrily. Toby rolls his eyes.  
“Then tell me the shit I don’t know and maybe we’ll understand each other.”  
Cam’s mouth twists like that’s something he just couldn’t bear to do. Before either of them can say anything, Cam’s brothers step up to them.  
Jay waves at Toby, a friendly smile adorning his face.  
“Hi! Are you riding with us?” He asks. Both Toby and Cam say ‘no’ at the same time. Jay holds up his hands in a surrender motion and steps around them.  
“Okay then!” He says, stepping onto the bus. Matt follows him, smiling just a little smile at Toby as he walks by, but doesn’t say anything.  
Cam’s eyebrows are furrowed. He looks confused, staring at the ground. Toby wants to say something, but he isn’t sure what.  
Instead, he turns and walks to the other bus without another word. 

 

 

“Look, I’m sorry I’m so rude all the time, I just think it would be better.” Cam doesn’t even say hello, just steps up to Toby’s locker and starts to talk. Toby nearly drops his book in surprise. He scoffs, shaking his head.  
“Your damn mood swings are starting to give me whiplash.” Toby complains, taking out his Literature book and shutting his locker.  
Cam frowns, running a hand through his hair like he’s stressed. Toby watches the movement, and his hairgel theory is kind of deadened when he sees the boy’s fingers smoothly go through the strands. Soft. Not gelled, then.  
“Look, I said it would be better if we weren’t friends, not that I didn’t want to be.” Cam says. The bell rings, they both ignore it.  
“You want to be my friend? Aww, cute.” Toby teases. Cam tries to fight off a smile and fails miserably, “maybe we should just start over. Hang out. We’re going to the beach. It’ll be fun, come along.”  
“Which beach?” Cam replies without a beat, leaning hotly against the lockers. Toby suddenly wonders what he’d look like in a leather jacket, and dismisses the thought immediately, throat going dry.  
“La Push.”  
Cam’s smile lessens almost imperceptibly. Toby only notices cause he’s looking at his mouth.  
“Is there something wrong with that beach?” Toby asks. They start to walk when the tardy bell rings.  
“It’s just a little crowded.” Cam says.  
With a small goodbye smile shared between them, they part to their own classes. 

 

It’s freezing, but Jessica, Mike, and Eric suit up for a surf anyway. Toby and Angela walk near the driftwood, Angela taking photos of the beach.  
“I keep thinking Eric’s going to ask me to prom, but he just..doesn’t.” Angela confides in him.  
“Then ask him. You’re a hot strong independent woman.” Toby says. Angela tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, cheeks pinking with the compliment.  
“I am?”  
“Of course.” Toby replies with a smile, posing for a photo when she points the camera to him.  
“Toby!” It’s Bordie. She jogs up to them, hair braided down her back out of her beanie, along with a hoodie and a pair of hiking boots.  
“Hey! Angela this is Bordie. Are you stalking me?” Toby asks, grinning. Two guys stand behind her awkwardly.  
“You’re on my rez, remember? This is Sam and Embry. Boys, this is Toby.” Toby smiles politely. The rest of the group approaches, clad in surf suits. Toby shivers just at the thought of it while it’s this cold.  
“Keep her company. Her date bailed.” Jessica teases.  
“What date?” Eric asks, looking almost annoyed.  
“She invited Cameron.”  
“T-to be polite.” Toby excuses, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets.  
“I think it’s nice he invited him. Nobody ever does.” Angela says. Toby shoots her a thankful look. She smiles back.  
“Yeah, cause Misfit’s a freak.” Mike says snottily.  
“You got that right.” Sam says, causing Bordie to roll her eyes.  
“You know him?” Toby asks, eager for basically any information on the mysterious guy.  
“The Misfits don’t come here.” Sam says. Bordie shoots Sam a stern look, and Toby watches the exchange, confused. 

Later, Toby and Bordie stand alone at the water, watching for whales.  
“So..what did you friend mean when he said the Misfits don’t come here?” Toby asks, nudging her flirtatiously. Bordie smiles, cheeks pink.  
“I’m not supposed to say anything.” She says. Toby smiles at her, fluttering his eyelashes.  
“Hey I can keep a secret.” He says. It works. Bordie giggles and shrugs.  
“It’s just an old scary story. Did you know Quileutes were supposedly descended from wolves?”  
“Wolves? Like fur, doggy breath wolves?” Toby asks, trying to imagine it.  
“Yeah. Well the Misfits are apparently descended from this like...enemy clan. But, they claimed to be different, so we made a treaty with them.”  
“Didn’t they just move here?” Toby asks, confused.  
“Or..just moved back.” Bordie does a spooky ‘ooo’ sound and Toby laughs, pushing her jokingly. Bordie grins, looping her arm through his.  
“So what was the treaty?”  
“Well, they promised to stay off of Quileute land if we didn’t expose what they really were to the pale-faces.” She pauses dramatically. Toby shivers.  
The group, freezing from the water, yell that they’re leaving. The two start to walk back towards the van.  
“Wait, what were they really?” Toby asks eagerly. Bordie laughs with a careless shrug.  
“It’s just a story, Toby.” 

 

Toby sits at his desk and types into his laptop’s search engine.  
‘Quileute legends, Olympic peninsula’ an AD for a bookstore in Port Angeles pops up. Toby, intrigued, clicks on it. 

 

The sun is out, so half the students are in shorts even though it’s still barely 60 degrees. Jessica lies in the grass as Toby eats lunch at a picnic table. He searches the crowd of students.  
“He’s not here. When the weather’s nice Dr. Misfit takes them out for like, hiking and stuff. Tried that on my parents and nearly got grounded.” Jessica rolls her eyes. Toby pouts, sipping at a soda.  
Angela rushes up to them and gives Toby a hug.  
“I did it! I asked Eric to the prom and he said yes! You were totally right.”  
“I told you.” Toby grins.  
“We should go to Port Angeles before all the dresses get cleaned out.” Jessica says from the grass. Toby remembers the bookstore, and he smiles.  
“Port Angeles? Can I come?” 

 

Jessica comes out to the mirrors in a low-cut lavender dress.  
“I think this halter makes my boobs look big. What do you think, Toby?”  
Toby looks up from the maps app on his phone, where the book store is mapped in.  
“Looks great. Mike will love it.”  
Angela joins them from the changing rooms in a dusty rose long dress. Toby smiles.  
Walking passed the window, a group of rowdy frat boys knock on the window and whistle.  
“Fucking gross.” Jessica says. Toby flips the boys off and they make provocative hand gestures and continue down the walkway.  
“Anyway. What about this one?” Angela asks about her dress, doing a pose. Toby barely glances at her.  
“Looks nice.”  
“You said that about all the ones we tried on.” Jessica whines with a roll of her eyes.  
“Except that neon yellow one. Never in a million years,” Toby sasses, the girls laugh, “actually, I just really wanted to go to this bookstore. I’ll meet you guys at the restaurant?”  
The girls pout.  
“You sure?” Angela asks. Toby nods, collecting up his shoulder rucksack and standing up, pressing go on his maps app. 

 

It’s dark when Toby starts to walk towards the restaurant. He’s a good few blocks away, so he stuffs the book in his bag and takes a shortcut through a small alley.  
He thinks he hears someone walking behind him, but he doesn’t give it a second thought. He gets to the end of the alley, which opens into a warehouse parking lot, where two of the frat boys stand, clearly wasted as hell.  
“Wanna beer?” One of them slurs, stepping closer. Toby turns to go back down the alley but is met by two more. He’s cornered.  
“Look, just take my bag.” Toby says, but the guys just laugh.  
“We don’t want your bag, pretty boy.” One of them says. They start to get closer, crowding around him.  
“C’mon, let’s have a little fun. We know you’re the type to like it.” Another says. They laugh and crowd in.  
Toby wraps the strap of his bag around his wrist and swings, hitting one in the stomach. The book inside causes him to double over. Angrily, another guy jumps for him, and Toby swings, fist connecting with the guy’s jaw.  
The sound of screeching tires causes all of them to stop. Headlights blind them as a car comes to a halt mere inches from one of the guys.  
“Get in.” It’s Cameron, stepping out of the drivers seat. Toby complies, heart racing.  
Getting in, he misses the nearly animalistic furious glare the boy gives the drunk frat boys, who back up in surprise.  
Cam gets into the car and spins out of the lot, driving far too fast.  
“How did you find me—“  
“I should go back and rip their fucking heads off.” Cam says, more angry than Toby’s ever seen anyone. One of his hands grip the steering wheel tightly. The other on the gear shift. His knuckles are white with how tight he’s holding it. He breathes heavily, eyes wild with fury.  
“N-no, bad idea.” Toby says, clutching his rucksack desperately, heart pounding with the thought of what could’ve happened.  
“You don’t know the vile, repulsive things those fucking low lives were thinking-“  
“And you do?” Toby interrupts, eyes narrowing.  
Cam’s jaw tenses.  
“Not hard to guess.” He says, shaking his head either at his thoughts or himself, Toby isn’t sure.  
A red light stops Cam’s speeding. He takes his hand off the gear shift and clenches and unclenches his fist over and over again.  
“Fucking..say something. Do something. Anything to distract me so I don’t go back and kill them.” Cam says, his leg not on the brake bouncing under the wheel.  
Toby chews on his lip nervously and does the first thing he thinks of, taking Cam’s hand in his and squeezing it. A shiver goes down Toby’s spine.  
“Your hand is so cold,” Toby says. Cam tries to pull away with a frown, but Toby stops him, rubbing circles on the top of his hand, “it’s okay though.”  
Cam looks at him, angry breath’s calming. Eventually, he squeezes back gently.  
The light turns green. 

 

Toby steps up the curb onto the sidewalk in front of the restaurant where Jessica and Angela are coming out.  
“Hey, there you are! We waited and call but we were like, starving...” Jessica’s words trail and both girls watch Cam get out of the drivers seat and come up to stand behind him, composed now.  
“I’m sorry I kept Toby from dinner. We ran into each other and got talking.” He smiles, charming as hell.  
“Oh, it’s okay.” Angela says, eyes wide.  
“Totally okay.” Jessica adds, smiling. Toby can nearly see the heart eyes emerging from both of their faces. He attempts to hide his smirk. Cam knows exactly what he’s doing.  
“Well um, we’re just leaving, Toby.” They start to walk to her car. Toby goes to follow.  
“I think I should make sure Toby gets something to eat, and I can drive him home, if that’s fine with you.” Cam holds out an elbow for Toby to take as if he’s courting him. It’s cute.  
“Yeah I should eat.” Toby says, and smiles goodbye to the girls, placing his hand in the crook of Cam’s elbow. They walk into the restaurant, the girls behind them giggling to each other. 

 

They sit on a patio deck. A dramatic waterfall shimmers behind them. The waitress sets down a plate of mesquite roasted salmon in front of Toby, and nothing to Cam.  
“You really aren’t eating?” Toby asks, taking a bite.  
“I’m on a special diet.” Cam says, smiling as if it’s an inside joke.  
“So how about some answers now?” Toby suggests, impatient. Cam smiles and watches him eat.  
“Yes, no, to get to the other side, and 1.77245–“  
“I didn’t ask for the square root of pi.”  
“You knew that?” Cam looks pleasantly surprised.  
“How did you know where I was?”  
“I didn’t.”  
Toby frowns, frustrated, and stands up to leave. Cam stops him with a cold hand on his wrist.  
“Don’t go.” He says, looking sincere. Toby sighs and sits back down.  
“Were you following me?” He asks once he’s sat.  
“I...feel very protective of you.” Cam says, not exactly answering. Toby places his chin on his hand, eyes searching his.  
“Is that a yes?”  
“Yes, I followed you. I tried to keep my distance, until you needed help.” He looks away, eyebrows furrowing.  
“You said before that you heard what those guys were thinking?” Toby pries. Cam points towards the people inside.  
“I can read every mind in there apart from yours. Work, sex, sex, money, boyfriend,” he points to Toby, “nothing. It’s quite frustrating.”  
“Why? What’s wrong with me?”  
“I tell you I can read minds and you think there’s something wrong with you?” He smiles, charmed, but then his smile fades. He looks over to the waterfall, a torn look adorning his face.  
“What is it?” Toby asks. Cam looks back to him, eyes intense.  
“I don’t have the strength to stay away from you anymore.”  
Toby’s surprised, but mostly thrilled. He smiles.  
“Cam, you don’t have to anymore.”  
The boy shakes his head to himself, then abruptly stands.  
“You’re cold, we should go.” 

 

That night, Toby thumbs through the book he bought. He finds pictures of ancient carved masks. Stopping at a photo of a white mask with black eyes and sharp teeth, his fingers trace over the description.  
“The Cold One.” He murmurs to himself, standing up and padding over to his laptop.  
Searching ‘Cold One’ leads to plenty of beer ads, but finally Toby finds a link to ‘The Cold One: Apotamkin.’  
After a photo of a Apotamkin with ice-blue skin devouring a maiden, Toby skims through the paragraphs. Several words catch his eye: speed, strength, cold-skinned, immortal.  
Then finally: blood drinker.  
Toby gasps, leaning back in his chair in disbelief.  
“It’s not possible.” 

 

Toby spots Cam standing with his brothers near the edge of the parking lot. He walks to him, gives him a serious look, and continues on, into the dark forest that borders the school. He doesn’t turn to make sure he’s following. 

Toby waits amid the trees. The sounds of the forest suddenly dissipate. A predator is near. He knows it’s Cam behind him.  
“You’re impossibly fast, and strong. Your skin is pale-white, ice-cold, your eyes change colour,” he turns to face the boy, who’s slowly walking up to him, eyes wide, “you never eat, drink, or come out in the sunlight. And you said no to the beach trip only after I’d said where it was. Because of the treaty.”  
Toby steps closer to him, and Cam stops at his last sentence.  
“How old are you?”  
“Seventeen.” Cam replies, voice gentle, breathy.  
“How long have you been seventeen?”  
A beat.  
“A while.”  
Toby exhales shakily. He knew, but it’s still shocking to his core.  
“I know what the cold ones are. What you are.”  
Cam closes the distance between them, not touching him but barely a foot away. Toby stands his ground, looking up at him.  
“Tell me.” Cam says, raising an eyebrow.  
“Vampire.”  
They seem to hover in momentary stasis. Cam utterly exposed. Toby’s reality utterly rocked.  
“Are you afraid?” Cam asks with a small tilt to his head. Toby gulps, but he’s not. His heart pounds, but as a result of their small distance apart, not as a result of fear.  
“No.” He says.  
“Then ask me the most basic question: What do we eat?”  
“You won’t hurt me. You’re different.” Toby says instead of asking.  
“You think you know me?” Cam asks, glaring. Toby stands his ground. Suddenly, Cam takes his hand and starts walking through the trees.  
“Where are we going?” Toby asks, excited but a bit nervous.  
“I need to show you something. Are you afraid?”  
“No.” Toby says again. Abruptly, Cam picks him up, flinging him onto his back effortlessly, as if he weighs nothing at all.  
“Hold on.” He says, then starts running. 

 

Toby’s eyes are squeezed shut. He’s suddenly finds himself sat down against a tree. He’s dizzy, tries to regain his equilibrium. He realises he’s alone.  
“Cameron?” He calls, rising unsteadily, then steps out just beyond the fringe of the ferns. A meadow. A perfect circle of swaying grass, wildflowers, and sunlight. He can hear a stream nearby. Looking around, Toby finally spots him, under the shadows of the trees. He’s unbuttoning the front of his shirt.  
“This is why we don’t show ourselves in sunlight.” Cam says, then with a deep breath, steps out of the shade, into the sun. Toby gasps as the sun hits him. His skin literally sparkles as if embedded with thousands of tiny diamonds. He is magnificent, shimmering, as if he was a statue carved out of glittering crystal. He moves toward Toby, watching his reaction carefully. Toby steps closer as well, drawn in.  
“You’re...beautiful.” Toby murmurs in awe. Cam scoffs and steps back into the shadows, skin returning to its regular state. Toby steps up to him, just on the outside of the shadow.  
“Beautiful? This is the skin of a killer, Toby.” He says, face disgusted at himself. Toby frowns, reaching for him, stopping his hands where they’re quickly buttoning his shirt back up.  
“I don’t believe that.”  
“Because you believe the lie. Everything about me draws you in. My voice, my face, even my smell. I’m designed to kill.”  
“I don’t care.”  
“I’ve killed people.”  
“Doesn’t matter.”  
Cam pulls away, then appears behind him out of thin air. Impossibly fast, faster than Toby’s human eyes can track.  
“I wanted to kill you. I’ve never wanted a human’s blood so bad in my life. I’m a danger to you.”  
“I trust you.” Toby says, turning toward him, taking a step closer when Cam takes one back.  
“Don’t.”  
“I trust you, Cam, I’m here.” Toby says, taking his hand. Cam reels at the warmth of his touch. Nearly flush, Toby places a hand on his exposed chest. Suddenly he’s gone.  
“Cam?” He looks over to find him on the other side of the meadow, catching his breath.  
“You caught me by surprise. I don’t know how to..do this.” Collecting himself, he moves back towards Toby.  
“My family, we’re different. We’re not nomadic, we have a permanent home. We only hunt animals. We’ve learned to control our thirst,” he shakes his head, “but you - your scent. It’s like a drug to me.”  
“Oh. I thought you hated me when we first met.”  
He reaches him again, utterly vulnerable as he searches the human’s face.  
“I wish I could understand this thing you see in me. You look at me with those eyes...I can’t read your mind. Tell me what you’re thinking.”  
“I’m afraid.”  
Stricken, the boy sinks gracefully to his knees in the grass.  
“Good.” He says, devastated.  
Toby sinks down in front of him.  
“Not of that. I’m afraid you’ll disappear. That I’ll lose you.”  
Cam smiles, elated, skin dazzling in the sunlight.  
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you.” He reaches out, icy hand taking his, pulling him down into the grass.  
They lay, as close as they dare, eyes on each other despite the beauty around them. 

 

“Come to my house tomorrow.” Cam says as they wash Toby’s truck.  
“Your house? With your family?”  
Cam wipes down the side of the truck, then reaches under the fender with his bare hands and easily pops the large dent from the accident out of the truck’s body. Toby’s too flustered to really register it.  
“What if they don’t like me?”  
Cam laughs heartily. Toby’s momentarily distracted by the beauty of just him laughing.  
“You’re worried, not because you’ll be in a household of vampires, but because you think they won’t approve of you?”  
“I’m glad I amuse you.” Toby deadpans, but can’t keep it up, laughing when Cam splashes soapy water at him.  
In the end, they sit on the driveway, nearly soaked, giggling like lunatics. 

 

“Your house is fucking gorgeous.”  
Cam grins and takes his hand, leading him up to the nice timeless bright house.  
“What were you expecting? Coffins, dungeons, moats?”  
“Not the moats.” Toby says, chuckling when Cam rolls his eyes. They step into the house and walk through a nice high ceiling living room. The place is open and bright. Toby can hear clanging dishes from another room, and a cooking show that sounds like it’s in Italian.  
“I told them not to do this.” Cam sighs, leading him to the kitchen. Nerves bubble in Toby’s stomach.  
Cam’s family bustles around the kitchen, following the cooking show with ease, never needing a second to stop and breathe. It’s amazing.  
“Toby! We’re making Italiano for you.” Dr. Misfit says, grinning.  
“I know you’ve met but now I suppose you can call him Ryan. My father for all intents and purposes.” Cam grins at the doctor.  
“Yes, well, you’ve given us an excuse to use the kitchen for the first time. I hope you’re hungry.”  
Toby nods hurriedly.  
“Oh, absolutely—“  
“He already ate.” Cam interrupts. Toby nudges him with a glare, but the boy just shrugs. A glass shatters on the floor, greens spread out over the tile. It’s Mason, eyes furious, mouth downturned.  
“Perfect.” He says, then turns to leave. Toby let’s go of Cam’s hand and follows the boy, and everyone follows Toby.  
“I-I just assumed, because you don’t eat, you know..”  
“Of course. That was very considerate of you.” Jay says, smiling.  
“I’m sorry.” Toby says to everyone as Mason leaves the room entirely. Nobody looks angry.  
“Here, I’ll give you a tour of the house.” Cam says, breaking the tension hung uncomfortably in the air.  
“I’ll see you soon.” Jay says, weirdly meaningful. Toby raises an eyebrow but smiles and waves at the boys before Cam places a hand at the bottom of his back and leads him away from the kitchen.  
“Sorry.” he murmurs as they make their way down the hall. Toby shrugs, smiling.  
“I like them.” He says, and Cam chuckles, leading him up some stairs and into a new room.  
The wall is lined with hundreds of books, vinyl records, cd’s, track tapes, and in the corner there seems to be different vintage and new gaming systems and games.  
“Oh wow you like games?” Toby asks, surprised, stepping over to the collection. He spots an original gameboy, hundreds of games, and what seems to be every single generation of PlayStation and Xbox. The best part, though, is the up and running pc setup. It looks hella expensive for literally any part of it, all the way from the monitor to the mouse is nice. Sleek.  
“Um..yeah I’ve had a lot of time. I’ve beat every game that’s been released.” He smiles like he’s embarrassed.  
Toby looks around the room, at the floor to ceiling windows, the lounge chair, and the nice lights hung up around.  
“No bed?” He asks. There’s plenty of room for one.  
“I don’t sleep.” Cam says, smiling sheepishly.  
“Ever?”  
“Nope.”  
Toby considers this, running a hand across the leather of the boy’s nice gaming chair, then turns to the wall of music, finds a vinyl sitting in the record player.  
“What were you listening to?”  
“Oh, don’t—“ Toby turns on the player and sets the needle down, ignoring him. The room fills with soft piano.  
“Clair De Lune.” Toby smiles, murmuring mostly to himself.  
“You know Debussy?” Cam asks, pleasantry surprised like he didn’t expect Toby to know any classical music. Toby’s got a wide range of musical taste, so he likes a bit of everything really.  
“‘Course.” Toby says, loving the raw sound of a record player. He’s always wanted one but could never really afford to get one, let alone buy some vinyl. It’s just more convenient to use Spotify and stuff these days.  
Cam has this soft smile adorning his face it’s annoyingly cute. He takes Toby’s hand and starts to turn him in a pirouette, but he breaks away, cheeks flushing.  
“I don’t dance.” He explains.  
“Ever?” Cam asks, hand still holding his, eyebrow raised.  
“I’m a bit clumsy. I’d probably trip and bust my fuckin’ head open.”  
“I can always make you.” Cam says, grinning mischievously.  
“I’m not scared of you.” Toby says, but backs up out of the glass door onto Cam’s deck.  
“You really shouldn’t have said that.” The boy says, appearing in the doorway and growling in the back of his throat, settling into a half crouch, about to pounce. Toby’s surprised by the new sound, but he chuckles.  
“Don’t you dare—“  
Suddenly, he’s airborne as Cam tackles him and they fly off of the deck. Within seconds, they’re in a tree, Toby being settled onto a branch.  
“Fuck off.” He says, but laughs, delighted. Cam joins him, laughing heartily. Toby watches him light up, wanting to hear that sound kind of forever.

 

Sitting in the passenger seat, Toby chews nervously on his lip.  
“You sure you’re ready for everyone to know? Nobody really knows you’re...into guys. They just suspect. Let alone the fact it’s with me. They all know primitively that I’m dangerous, they just don’t know why—“  
“Hey, I’m fine. I’m just nervous because I know people will stare. I’m not exactly the centre of attention type.”  
Cam smiles and steps out of his Volvo, crossing to the other side of the car and opening his door. When open, he holds out a hand to take.  
Toby does, cheeks flushing as he looks around and sees everyone’s already staring. Cam’s cold hand is comforting as they walk up towards the entrance of the school, clasped hands on clear display. Toby looks away from the shocked faces and to the ground, watching his step.  
“Everyone’s staring.” He murmurs, quietly so nobody hears, knowing Cam will. The boy doesn’t respond, but he’s got a proud grin on his face as they reach the door, eyes warm. His expression lessens Toby’s nerves and he finds himself smiling back in awe. 

 

Toby makes his way to the Forks coffee shop entrance, smiling to himself about the day, not really noticing Mike and his basketball friends playing outside until the boy’s jogging up to him.  
“So, Arizona, you and Misfit, huh?”  
Toby just shrugs, non-committal, but he can’t hide his smile as he hurries inside and slides into Bee’s booth.  
“Sorry I’m late. Biology project.” He explains. Bee waves him off, sliding the seafood combo plate to him.  
They pass around seasonings to each other in a comfortable silence.  
“Your friends are flagging you.” Bee says, eyes on the window next to them. Mike and the guys are horsing around, straws in their noses as they make faces at him. Toby laughs.  
“It’s okay if you want to join them. I’m just gonna turn in early anyway.”  
“Yeah, me too.” Toby replies, taking a bite of shrimp. Bee frowns, poking at her steak.  
“It’s a Friday night. Go out. The Newton boy’s got a big smile for you. Nice family, the Newton’s.” Bee nods to herself suggestively.  
“He’s just a friend.” Toby says clearly, understanding what Bee’s trying to say.  
“None of the boys in town interest you? Boys, girls, anyone?” Bee asks, not making eye contact as she takes a sip of water.  
Coming out to his mom was a bit weird. He’d sorta just said one day “hey I like guys as well as girls” and Bee hadn’t really said anything in response. She had nodded and sent him a thumbs up, so Toby’s always been a bit tip toe-y around the subject, not exactly sure on her viewpoint.  
“We’re not really going to talk about boys, are we?” Toby complains with a smile. Bee sighs in relief, doing a small salute and headed back to her steak. Toby grins and they fall back into a nice silence. 

 

That night, Toby stands in front of his vanity, phone to his ear as he talks to his dad, rearranging his school papers on the flat surface.  
“So spring training’s going well?”  
“Phoebe’s working hard. We’re looking for places to rent, in case it becomes permanent. You’d love Jacksonville, baby.” Toby can hear his dad’s grin over the phone. His heart aches, missing him. Not having siblings and barely seeing Bee over the years, his dad’s his best friend.  
“Actually, Forks is kind of growing on me.” Toby says, tossing a graded paper to his recycle bin.  
A beat.  
“Could...a special someone have something to do with that?” Dad asks, immediately calling him out. How does he even do that. Toby’s blushing as if they’re talking right across from each other.  
“Maybe..um, well there is this guy—“  
“Tell me everything! I need photos! Is he smart? I bet he’s smart!“  
“Dad, c’mon—“ Toby looks up at himself in the mirror, finds he’s not alone. With a gasp, he turns, finding Cam lying on his bed looking amused. He nearly drops his phone.  
“I have to go.” Toby says into his phone.  
“No way! We gotta talk boys. Are you being safe?” Dad asks. Cam shoots him a look, clearly having heard that.  
“I’ll call you later, dad.” Toby says, hanging up, mortified.  
“How did you get in here?”  
“The window, as always.” Cam says nonchalantly, not hiding his once over. Toby’s just in briefs and a loose shirt for bed. Legs exposed.  
“You’ve been here before?” Toby accuses, stepping up to the bed. Cam’s wearing a black round neck shirt that’s just slightly too tight. It’s unfairly hot.  
“Not much else to do at night.” He says. Toby pushes at him, mock affronted. Cam uses that hand to pull him down onto the bed, playfully wrestling.  
“You’re a peeping Tom! Perv!” Toby pins him down, straddling his torso. The guy’s clearly not trying, just lying under him with a smile.  
“Shhh. The chief will hear us!” Cam says, hands coming to rest on his thighs. The electricity of their physical contact quickly overwhelms them, their laughter dying down.  
“I just...like watching you.” Cam murmurs, then suddenly sits up, Toby straddling his lap. His cold fingers unexpectedly press to his lips, jaw tense.  
Toby doesn’t know what to say, a thrill up his spine.  
“I want to try something.” He goes on to say. Toby just nods, bedazzled. Cam takes his face in his hand and hesitates, then gently closes the distance between them, kissing him softly.  
Toby gasps, lips parting to take him in. His hands raise to finally knot in Cam’s hair, decidedly soft. Naturally.  
Abruptly, Toby’s world spins and he’s on his back against his pillow, breathing uneven. He opens his eyes, disorientated, and finds Cam sitting at the end of the bed, eyes wild, jaw clenched.  
“We have to be careful,” Cam says, exhaling smoothly and placing a cool hand on his ankle, not touching him more than that, “I can never lose control with you. Ever.”  
Toby nods in agreement. After a few tense seconds, Cam shakes his head to clear it and crawls up to lie with him. They just lay, cuddled together, until Toby’s breathing evens and his eyes slip closed. 

 

Late afternoon, Toby steps into the living room, where Bee’s cleaning a rifle. She stars to say hello, but Toby just blurts-  
“I have a date with Cameron Misfit.”  
Bee looks like she’s having an aneurysm.  
“Isn’t he too old for you?” She asks, and Toby almost laughs. Just a bit too old. By only a few eras.  
“We’re both juniors. I thought you liked the Misfits.” Toby says instead, keeping his face neutral.  
“And I thought you weren’t interested in anyone in town.” Bee continues as if he didn’t say anything.  
“Cameron doesn’t live ‘in town’. And it’s in the early stage and—whatever, he’s outside right now.”  
Bee perks up, eyebrows furrowing. She looks like him, Toby suddenly thinks. Or well, he supposed he looks like her, rather.  
“Now? He’s out there?” She points to the door.  
“He wanted to meet you. Officially.”  
“Good.” Bee says, then cocks the rifle in mock-seriousness. Or is it actual seriousness? Toby’s nervous.  
“Be nice, okay? He’s..important.” Toby steps over to the door and opens it, revealing Cam in a parka and gloves. Gloves so his temperature doesn’t weird Bee out, he guesses.  
“Chief Lyons. I wanted to formally introduce myself. I’m Cameron.” He grins, as charming as usual, shaking Bee’s hand. She just grunts a hello, resisting.  
“I won’t keep Toby out late tonight. We’re just going to play a game of baseball with my family.”  
“Toby’s going to play baseball?” Bee deadpans, eyes narrowing in disbelief. Toby’s equally as surprised, but hides it.  
“Yes ma’am, that’s the plan,” Cam says, “he’ll be safe with me, I promise.”  
Cam exists, and Bee holds Toby back.  
“You got my number on speed dial, right?” She asks, searching his face.  
“Mom,” Toby laughs, but waves his phone, “fine, yes.” 

 

“Since when do vampires like baseball?” Toby asks as they drive a massive Jeep through the woods.  
“It’s the American pastime. Besides, there’s a thunderstorm coming in. It’s the only time we can play. You’ll see why.”  
Toby grins, intrigued. They pull up into a large clearing, where a rough baseball diamond is set into an enormous field in the lap of the Olympic peaks.  
Ryan and Swagger come up to greet them.  
“Good thing you’re here. We need an umpire.” The doctor says. Swagger rolls his eyes with a grin.  
“He thinks we cheat.” He explains to Toby, elbowing his adoptive father playfully.  
“I know you fucking cheat.” Ryan accuses, and they all look over to Jay at the pitchers mound.  
“It’s time!” The boy calls to them, just as a deep rumble of thunder shakes the forest. 

It’s extraordinary. Toby stays by Ryan who plays catcher. Jay pitches with lightning-fast speed. Cam and Swagger take positions in the outfield.  
Mason, batting, smashes the ball with an aluminium bat. It cracks like thunder, and is followed by actual thunder.  
“Now I get why you need the thunder.” Toby says, amazed as the ball shoots like a meteor deep into the forest. Cam takes off in a blur after it, nearly too fast for Toby’s slow human eyes to comprehend.  
“Has to be a home run.” He murmurs, as Mason runs around the larger than life field.  
“Cameron’s very fast.” Ryan says. Within a second, Cam appears with the ball and whips it to home plate. Ryan catches it easily a millisecond before Mason slides into home base.  
“Yer out?”  
Ryan nods. Mason scoffs and glares at them. Jay pitches the next ball to Matt, but before he can move to first base, Jay suddenly stops.  
“Wait! I didn’t see them.” They all stop, and Cam’s at Toby’s side before he can blink. The family’s instantly at home plate.  
“We don’t know them. They were just passing through but they heard us playing.” Jay explains, eyes blank but flitting back and forth, seeing.  
Cam’s parka is draped over Toby’s shoulders, and the tall boy takes off his ball cap and fixes it onto his head, eyebrows furrowing, eyes on Jay, clearly listening to whatever the boy is thinking.  
“Like that’ll help, I could smell him across the field.” Mason says with a shake of his head.  
“I shouldn’t have brought you here. I’m so sorry.” Cam says. Toby wants to reply, but then the boy stands half in front of him, and the rest of the family turns as two men step out from the trees on the other side of the field.  
As they near, Toby sees they’re barefoot, and their eyes are a deep red. Piercing. He’s never seen a vampires eyes red before. Only black and a golden tone.  
“I believe this belongs to you.” Says a man with deep brown smooth skin and neat dreads. He tosses the ball to Ryan. It’s a casual toss, but still too fast for Toby’s eyes, “could you use three more players?”  
Ryan catches it with ease, smiling politely.  
“Of course. We need more batters.” The doctor says.  
“I’m Laurent. This is James.” He motions to the other guy, a blonde ponytail-clad man who’s wearing just an open vest as a top. He’s got this distasteful look on his face, like he doesn’t like anything.  
Just before anyone moves to positions, a gust of wind from the oncoming storm nearly takes the hat from Toby’s head. Both of the new vampires look to him immediately as the wind whips his hair.  
“You brought a snack.” James grins, taking a step forward.  
Instantly, Cam stands in front of Toby, blocking his view. A truly menacing snarl rips from his throat. James growls back.  
Toby clutches the back of Cam’s shirt, feeling his tense muscles underneath, and watches the rest of his family surround him like a shield. Even Mason, who bares his teeth just the same.  
“He’s with us.” Ryan says.  
“I understand. We won’t harm him.” Laurent replies, trying to diffuse the situation.  
“Just fucking try it.” Swagger says, eager for battle.  
“I think it’s best if you leave.” Ryan says meaningfully. Toby, for the first time, feels fearful of a vampire, unable to get the look of James’ red eyes out of his head.  
“Yes, I can see the game is over. I’m sorry. We’ll go now, James.” Laurent says. No footsteps are heard, but then everyone turns to him.  
“Cameron, get Toby out of here. We’ll follow them and make sure they leave.” Ryan orders, then they disappear.  
Toby can barely blink before he’s being sat back into the Jeep, Cam strapping him in then appearing in the drivers within a millisecond.  
“James is a tracker. I saw his mind. The hunt is his obsession, and my reaction set him off,” the tires spin as Cam whips the Jeep through the forest, “we’re a strong clan all protecting one vulnerable human with an irresistible scent. This has just become his most exciting game ever.” Cam drives with anger, eyes dark in disgust.  
Toby sits speechless, blanching as he realises what he’s just wrung everyone into.  
“He’ll go to your house first. He’ll track your scent there.” Cam says.  
“What?! Bee’s there! She’s in danger because of me!” Toby exclaims, horrified. Cam takes his hand, calmly stroking it with his thumb.  
“Then we’ll lead him away from her. Somehow.”  
He whips around a bend, mud flying. 

 

Toby bursts through the front door. As expected, Bee’s on the couch, in the middle of the new Black Mirror season.  
“I said, leave me alone!” Toby cries dramatically.  
“Toby, don’t do this. Just think about it, please!” Cam says, playing his part well, running a hand through his hair, devastated.  
“Get out! It’s over!” Toby slams the door. Bee has risen from the couch, baffled.  
“Toby, what happened?”  
“I have to get out of here. Out of Forks. I’m leaving. Right now.” He runs upstairs and slams the door. Cam’s already there, packing things into a duffle bag faster than humanly possible.  
“I can’t hurt her.” Toby whispers, pained. Cam shoots him a look. You have to. There’s a knock.  
“Toby, did that boy hurt you?” She asks from the other side of the door, sounding already pissed as if he had.  
“No, Mom.” Toby replies.  
“Did he break up with you?” She guesses.  
“I-I broke up with him.”  
“I thought you liked him?” Bee says sadly.  
“That’s why I have to leave. I want to go home.” He says. The words feel so wrong on his tongue. He always considered Arizona his home. Where his dad is. Now, something’s changed. His home currently zips up the duffle, eyes black as he hands it over.  
“I’ll be in the truck. You got this.” He whispers, then disappears out of the window.  
Toby exhales shakily, gathering the strength to continue his performance. He opens the door and pushes past Bee, carrying the duffle and his truck keys.  
“Your father’s not even in Phoenix.” Bee pleads, following him down the stairs.  
“I’ll call him from the road. He’ll come home.”  
“You can’t drive home now. I’ll take you to an airport in the morning. Sleep on it.”  
“I need to drive. I want to think. I’ll pull into a motel in a few hours, I promise.” Toby says as they reach the bottom of the stairs. He goes to make a beeline for the door but Bee blocks him.  
“Toby, I know I’m not around much, but I can change that. We can do more things together.” She pleads, eyebrows furrowed. Toby holds his keys so right they dig bruises into his palms, hating himself for what he’s about to say.  
“Like what? Watch Netflix shows on the flat screen? Or go to the diner? Same people, same old steak every night? That’s you, Mom, not me.”  
It hits Bee hard. Toby can barely stand it. He pushes past her towards the door, taking a second to recover.  
“I just got you back.” Bee says. It breaks Toby’s heart, and forces him to deliver the final blow. He opens the door and can’t look at her as he says it.  
“Yeah, and if I don’t get out now, I’ll just get stuck here like dad did.”  
Bee is stunned, wounded. She’s too shocked to stop him as he leaves. 

Toby can barely see the road through his tears as he drives away from the house. Suddenly Cam is outside her window, climbing in.  
“She will forgive you. Slide over.” He says, taking over driving as Toby slides to the passenger side.  
“Her face...I used the same words my dad did when he left her.” He wipes his tears away, annoyed at his emotions.  
“It was the only way he’d let you go. He’s safe now, Toby. The tracker is following us.” Cam floors it, and the truck struggles with the speed as they fly through the roads.  
Cam, Swagger, and Jay rush Toby from his truck to the Misfit house. They freeze when the front door opens and out steps Laurent. The vampires take defensive positions in front of Toby, but then Ryan steps out as well.  
“He came to warn us. About James.” The boys back down slightly, though Cam keeps a hand at the small of his back, eyebrows furrowed.  
“I’ve become tired of his game’s. But he has unparalleled senses. Absolutely lethal. I’ve never seen anything like it in three hundred years.” Laurent says, “I’m truly sorry for what’s been unleashed here.”  
Ryan nods in thanks, and Laurent disappears into the woods. 

 

The lights illuminate the Misfits pristine four car garage, which hosts some nice ass pieces. Usually, Toby’s all for appreciating cars, a bit of a buff, but now, he can’t think about that, watching the family load up the cars with supplies from the garage cabinets, clearly prepared for anything. Mason leans against the wall, annoyed.  
“I’ve had to fight our kind before. We’re hard to kill.” Matt says, surprising Toby as the vampire doesn’t speak much. Now, his eyes are dark, prepared for anything.  
“Not impossible, but.” Cam replies.  
“I don’t relish killing another creature, even a sadistic one like James.” Ryan says, mouth in a thin line.  
“If he doesn’t get to one of us first.” Mason says snarkily from the wall.  
“This is insane. You can’t put yourselves in danger like this—for me.” Toby says, horrified.  
“Too late.” Mason murmurs. Cam shoots him a look, then tosses a set of keys to Ryan.  
“I’ll run Toby south, while you lead the tracker away.”  
“No, Cameron. The tracker thinks you won’t leave Toby. He’ll follow you.” The doctor argues.  
“I’ll go with Toby. Matt and I will keep him safe. We will drive him south.” Jay says, taking a step towards Cam. The boy agonises, frustrated. He studies his brother, torn.  
“Can you keep your thoughts to yourself?” He asks. Jay nods. An unspoken agreement. Finally, Cam surrenders his own keys. Then he turns to the duffle they packed and pulls out one of Toby’s jumpers, and a t shirt, handing them to Swagger and Mason.  
“Put these on so the tracker will pick up on Toby’s scent.” Cam says. Immediately, Mason drops the clothes, annoyed.  
“Why should I? What’s he to me? Just a danger you’ve inflicted onto all of us—“  
“Mason. Toby is with Cameron, he’s a part of our family now. And we protect our family.” Ryan says, picking up the dropped clothing and handing it back to the boy.  
Mason glowers, but tugs on the jumper. Everyone loads into the cars. Toby stands in front of the open car door, hands clutching at Cam’s coat lapels, not wanting to leave him.  
“If anyone gets hurt because of me—“  
“We won’t. There’s five of us. Only one of him. When it’s done, I’ll come get you.”  
He pulls him closer, lips gently pressing to his forehead, then he’s rushing him into the car.  
Once the door is shut, he leans down and looks into his eyes.  
“You’re my life now.” He says, then backs away from the door, leaving Toby’s heart racing.  
The car peels out of the garage. 

 

Toby paces in the hotel room, checking his phone every few seconds. Jay and Matt stare blankly at a tv, not really watching it.  
“I wish he’d call.” Toby worries.  
“You should eat.” Jay motions to the wide variety of room service food they’d ordered for him. Toby sits, ignoring the food, having zero appetite at the moment.  
“They could get hurt. It’s lot worth it.”  
“Yes it is,” Matt suddenly says, insistent. Toby’s taken aback. It’s the first time the guy’s directly engaged with him, “Cameron’s changed since he found you. None of us will want to look into his eyes for the next hundred years if he loses you. It’s worth it.” He looks back to the tv. Toby’s heart warms, but his anxiety doesn’t fade.  
Suddenly, Jay reels. Toby goes to him, Matt following.  
“What do you see?” Matt asks, and Toby realises Jay is having a vision.  
“The tracker. He’s just changed course.”  
Matt stands and sets down a pad of hotel paper and a pen in front of the boy out of thin air.  
“Where will it take him, Jay?”  
“Mirrors. A room full of mirrors.” Jay begins to draw at hyper speed, closing his eyes to see his vision clearly. Despite it all, it’s interesting to see the boy use his gift. Fascinating. He looks over his shoulder to watch the drawing quickly come to life.  
“So James’ new course will lead him to..a ballet studio?”  
Jay suddenly blinks back into the present, pen coming to a halt.  
“You’ve been here?”  
“No. I don’t know. I used to take lessons as a kid. The school had an arch just like that.”  
“Was your school here in Phoenix?” Matt asks.  
“Yeah. Right around the corner from my house. But I haven’t been there in like ten years.”  
“Do you have any reason to go now?”  
“No. Hell no. I hated the place. The other ballerinas always made fun of me because I was the only boy so I quit.” Toby’s nose pinches in disgust at the memory. 

 

Matt and Jay are in the lobby, setting the bill. Matt loads up the car out front. Toby sits across the lobby on a loveseat, pouting in worry.  
His phone rings, the caller ID reading ‘home’. It’s their home line.  
“Dad, I’m so glad you got my—“  
“Toby? Toby where are you?!” Dad sounds panicked.  
“Calm down dad. I’ll explain everything.” He hears rustling on the line, as if Dad’s dropped the phone, then he hears a voice that sends a chill down his spine.  
“Nice house you got here. Not the best on the block, but comfortable. I was prepared to wait for you, but then dad got a very worried call from your mom. It all worked out quite well.”  
“Leave my father out of this.” Toby says, seething.  
“You’re protective of him. That’s nice. You can still save him, but you need to get away from your friends. Can you do that?”  
“I...don’t think so.”  
“If your fathers life depended on it?”  
Toby is terrified, but there’s no choice here.  
“Where should I meet you?”  
“The old ballet studio around the corner. I’ll know if you bring anyone along. Poor dad would pay the price.”  
Toby hangs up, panicked.  
He stands, scanning the lobby for Jay and Matt. He spots them outside under the porte cacher, loading up the car. He slips out of the opposite door, rushing towards a taxi and jumping in.  
“8th and Palo Verde, please.” Toby says, and watches the hotel and his safety disappear in the rear window. 

 

The school is abandoned. For god knows how long. Toby peeks through the windows, finding nothing but dust and darkness. He hesitates at the large wooden doors.  
“Toby?! Toby!” It’s his dad. Throwing the doors open, Toby rushes through the large room of mirrors and ballet bars, following the sound of his fathers voice to- a closet?  
“Toby, where are you?”  
Opening the closet doors, Toby finds himself face to face with a tv. On screen a video plays. Toby, age 7, sits in the very closet he’s in now, pouting with tears in his eyes.  
“There you are. Don’t you want to dance, baby?” His dad asks, filming. Little Toby shakes his head stubbornly.  
“Everyone makes fun of me.” He says. Laughter behind him causes Toby to flinch in surprise. He spins, locating James a few metres away. He holds up a remote and pauses the home video.  
“Stubborn child, weren’t you?” The vampire asks. Toby’s face flushes with rage, but mainly relief.  
“He’s not here.” He states, realising his dads voice over the phone was merely a recording.  
“Sorry, but you really made it too easy.” The man replies. Toby suddenly jolts, running towards the door.  
“Interesting! An escape attempt!” James laughs, then suddenly appears behind him, freezing him.  
“It’ll break Cameron’s little heart.” He says, fingers pressing gently to Toby’s throat. Toby’s heart aches at hearing his name.  
“Cameron has nothing to do with this.” He spits angrily.  
“He will. His rage will make for more interesting sport than his feeble attempt to protect you.” Suddenly, Toby’s flung across the floor like a bowling ball. He smashes hard into a mirrored column. White dots dance in his sight with the impact.  
“Too bad he didn’t have the strength to turn you. Instead, he kept you this fragile little human. It’s cruel, really.” James appears, and stomps on Toby’s shin. A loud crack is heard as his tibia snaps. The boy screams in agony, echoing in the large building.  
The vampire leans in, inhaling as his blood looks.  
Suddenly, he’s knocked out of Toby’s vision. The boy can only moan in pain, half conscious. He hears loud cracks of concrete and wood being torn as two people fight.  
Then, James is leaning over him. With a sinister grin, he sinks his teeth into Toby’s wrist. He screams, eyesight blurring, barely seeing the blonde of Cam’s hair as he tackles the other vampire into the floorboards.  
Dark figures dance and fight in his vision as the venom spreads through his veins. It’s excruciating.  
Toby falls out of consciousness, but comes to when suddenly Ryan is there, along with Cam who holds his wrist in his cold hands and looks more vulnerable than Toby’s ever seen him.  
“He only has minutes left. You have to do it now, Cam.”  
“I won’t be able to stop.” Cam says, eyebrows furrowed anxiously.  
“Find a will to stop.” Ryan says. Cam closes his eyes, exhaling, then sinks his teeth in, sucking the venom from Toby’s veins.  
His pain begins to subside, until he’s just numb.  
“Stop. His blood is clean, Cam. You’re killing him.” Ryan says.  
But the bloodlust is too strong. Their eye contact doesn’t break as Cam sucks harder, hungrily.  
Toby watches him, forgivingly, as he begins to lose consciousness. Cam’s face goes blurry, then nothing. 

 

An oxygen tube annoys his nose. Toby reaches to pull it off as he opens his eyes to blinding light. His eyes adjust to find it’s just dimly lit in the room.  
Dad, sitting at the edge of the hospital bed, stops him from pulling the tube out.  
“Hey, you’re okay baby. You’re in a hospital.” He says, a bit teary. Toby’s dad has always been an emotional person. He’s never been one of those mega straight guys who think crying is for pussies. It’s probably why he and phoebe work, with the woman being so independent and the CEO type.  
Toby fumbles for the bed remote and sits himself up a bit, finds his leg in a cast.  
“Cameron? Where’s-“  
“He’s asleep.” Dad says, nodding over to Cam, sat in a chair in the corner. He’s great at pretending to sleep, turns out.  
“He never leaves. And your mom’s down in the cafeteria.”  
“What happened?” Toby asks warily. Clearly, a cover story had to of happened. Otherwise, Cam definitely wouldn’t be here.  
“You fell down two flights of stairs and through a window.” Dad says, chuckling though his eyes are wet.  
“Fuck, sounds like me.” Toby sighs, lying his head back against the window. Dad laughs, then his phone beeps. He answers the text, eyebrows furrowing.  
“It’s Phoebe. She’s so worried about you. I told her to stay in Florida. The Suns signed her!”  
Toby smiles, eyes flirting back to Cam, who’s slouched heavily in the chair, head lolled and ‘breathing’ deep.  
“That’s great dad.” He says, aching to touch the boy. Their time apart plus Toby’s near death has really put in perspective just how small a time Toby cares to be apart from him.  
Jacksonville is always sunny. You’re gonna love it, you’ve got your own bedroom—“  
“Wait, dad. I want to live in Forks. I have..mom..and friends.”  
“And he’s there.” Dad nods over to Cam, absolutely calling him out. Toby shrugs, conceding the truth, cheeks flushing. Dad’s always accepted him wholeheartedly, and has always been very open with him. Alas, Tony’s stomach still turns with nerves.  
“Bee doesn’t like him. Blames him for your leaving.”  
“What do you think.”  
“I think that boy is in love with you.” Dad replies lowly. They share a grin. If dad notices the heart monitor speed up a tad, he doesn’t mention it.  
“Hey dad, would you mind getting mom? I want to talk to her. Apologise.”  
“I’m sure he doesn’t care about that, but of course.” Dad smiles and leaves the room. Toby watches him go. When he turns back, Cam’s sitting down on the edge of the bed gently. Toby reaches for him, fingers locking with his. The boy leans over, pressing a kiss to his forehead.  
“Is James-did you-?”  
“We took care of him.” Cam assures, voice low. Soothing. Toby relaxes, calmed by him.  
“I’m alive because of you.”  
“You’re in here because of me.” He says angrily. At himself. His eyebrows furrow in pain as he glances down at Toby’s injuries.  
“The worst thing..was thinking I couldn’t stop-“  
“But you did.”  
“Toby, you should go to Jacksonville. Where I can’t hurt you anymore.”  
They both hear Toby’s heart speed up on the monitor.  
“What? Shut the fuck up. I don’t want—I don’t-“  
“Okay, okay. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” Cam lies down with him, strokes his face. Toby presses his forehead to the boy’s chest and exhales shakily. He’s a bit emotional, overwhelmed by the entire situation.  
“Don’t say shit like that. Like you’d easily leave.” Toby says, clutching the boy’s shirt like a lifeline. Cam shakes his head, holding him.  
“I won’t. I won’t leave.” Cam assures. Toby lifts his chin, eyes meeting his.  
“Toby..” Cam’s eyebrows furrow, hardly an inch away.  
“Cam.” Toby replies, challenging. Cam’s lip turns up, and he closes the distance. The kiss is short, but sweet. Cam eventually pulls away, jaw tight and exhaling shakily. Toby wishes it weren’t so painful for him to be this close. He wishes, not for the first time, that they were the same. No blood for Cam to get frenzied over.  
They lie together, Toby drifting off a bit, eyes shutting and missing the anguished look on Cam’s face, as a plan forms in the boy’s head. 

 

 

At a picnic table, Bee cleans a fish with a large knife. Cameron waits awkwardly by his Volvo, dressed in a sleek elegant suit. He’s always been calm, but even he is unnerved by Bee’s glare.  
The door opens, and Toby steps out in a nice suit. He has a bit of difficulty coming down the steps with the leg cast, but when he’s down he grins at the both of them, oblivious to the glaring from seconds before.  
Cam takes his hand, pressing a kiss there, enchanted by the boy.  
“Perfect.” He murmurs. Toby laughs, slapping his chest lightly.  
“Shut up. I’ve nearly brained myself three times today trying to get around in this.” He kicks out his leg boot, pouting.  
Bee steps up to them, smiling at her son.  
“I’ll take good care of him, Chief.” Cam swears.  
“Heard that before.” She says, disinterested in the boy.  
Cam moves to open the car door. Bee holds Toby back.  
“I put pepper spray in your bag.”  
“Mom!”  
“And...you look very handsome.” She says, not seeming to struggle with it. Toby thinks after everything, they’re getting better now. Closer.  
They share a smile. 

 

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this.” Toby says as they step up to the doors. Cam just grins and opens the door to prom. Monte Carlo style. Gambling tables and roulette wheels scatter the room. Guys in tuxes and girls in gowns gamble for prizes, dance, and socialise.  
“You’re really trying to kill me.” Toby deadpans. Cam smirks and they stop at the edge of the dance floor.  
“Shall we?” He asks.  
“You’re serious?” Toby laughs. Cam doesn’t wait for an answer. Takes his hand and brings him into the crowd. Many heads turn to them, eyebrows raising in surprise. Jealousy, for some.  
When they stop, Cam easily lifts Toby’s feet, including the boot, on top of his own, then they start to dance. Slowly, despite the slightly more upbeat song. They’re in their own world.  
“You’re dancing.” Cam says, grinning as if Toby’s doing anything but being lead.  
“At prom.” He giggles. Cam presses a kiss to his forehead. Toby actually enjoys it. Nobody’s really staring at them, all caught up in their own dances.  
“Cam..why did you save me? You could’ve let the venom spread. I could be like you by now.” Cam’s dancing slows to just swaying back in forth, horrified.  
“You don’t know what you’re saying. You don’t want this life.” Cam scoffs.  
“I want you. Always.” Toby pouts, heart pounding.  
“I won’t end your life for you.” He says angrily. They keep dancing.  
“I’m dying anyway. Getting older by the minute. Closer.”  
“That’s how it’s supposed to happen.”  
“Not the way Jay saw it. I heard him. He saw me like you.”  
“His visions change, Toby.”  
“Yeah, based on what someone decides. And I’ve decided.” He says stubbornly. Cam looks angry.  
“Is that what you dream about? Becoming a fucking monster?”  
“I dream about being with you forever.” Toby murmurs, not needing to speak up over the loud music. It’s not an ‘I love you’ but it might as well be. Cam hears him, eyes softening the smallest bit.  
“You really want this?” He asks, leaning in a bit.  
“Yes.”  
Cam lowers his lips to the boy’s neck. All it would take is one bite. To anyone who could be looking, it just looks like they’re hugging. Dancing.  
“You’re ready right now?” He asks, testing him.”  
“Yes.” Toby says, heart rate speeding up, hands clutching Cam’s labels of his suit jacket.  
His lips hover a long beat, then he kisses there. Not a bite. He lifts back up, frowning but he doesn’t really look angry anymore.  
“You’re going to have a long and happy life with me. Isn’t that enough?”  
Toby sighs, then smiles.  
“For now, I suppose.”  
They whirl around. Love static between them, intense. Carefree.  
They dance through the night, never breaking contact.  
Oblivious, to the crimson eyes watching them from a distance.

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: hey yall I’ve been checking back on this since I wrote it and noticed it’s not really getting much feedback, so I’ve lost motivation to finish it. If yall really want the next 3 chapters please let me know in the comments and it’ll motivate me to want to write it. Until then, I’ll leave it unfinished. x


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